A less than promising beginning

Living on Red Bull and pizza may be the way to cram for mid-term exams or finish off a late term paper for students over at Elon University but it’s no way operate a government-mandated health initiative that impacts the lives of millions of Americans.

Yet, that’s how programmers were forced to operate during those weeks and months leading to the failed Oct. 1 rollout of online health insurance exchanges that are the cornerstones of the Affordable Care Act. According to the Associated Press, computer techs were harried up to the final day of launch by last-minute changes which forced rewriting complex code. Website builders “saw red flags for months” the AP reported Monday. Functions were largely untested by experts in the field.

The result was, of course, predictable. When the exchanges started signing up customers on Oct. 1, their websites buckled, unable to handle the unexpectedly large amount of traffic. The federally operated exchanges’ website, HealthCare.gov, has experienced the most numerous, serious and enduring troubles. On the front end, users struggled just to register and log in so they could see what plans were available in their communities. Those problems linger, although they’re becoming less of a roadblock.

Few of us who work in modern offices have experienced smooth transitions to new computer systems. Nearly all contain a glitch here, or a snag there. But what President Obama Monday called “kinks in the system” are far more worrisome. It’s especially troublesome that his signature move in office has been so riddled with problems. It’s a serious stumble for a program that’s already been a target of criticism. If the website’s problems aren’t solved soon, they could inflict a greater toll on the Affordable Care Act than the law’s opponents have.

There’s some consolation in the fact that shoppers can sign up over the phone or in person, and that they can enroll as late as mid-December and still have coverage on Jan. 1. But the failures are mind-boggling and inexcusable, especially considering how much time the government had to prepare.

The administration exacerbated the problems by requiring people to register and determine their eligibility for subsidies before letting them browse through the offerings at HealthCare.gov. Critics say the administration was trying to mask how high premiums actually were by showing shoppers only the subsidized rates. Whatever the motive, it was a bad design choice that created a needless bottleneck.

Another issue was Washington’s inability to get the site ready far enough in advance to test for problems thoroughly and make the necessary changes. The administration’s allies argue that it was an enormously complex undertaking, and that vital work was delayed by legal challenges and congressional opposition. But those are just excuses. It was arrogant of administration officials to believe they could make the site work without extensive testing and a carefully staged rollout, as any other major website would require.

Page 2 of 2 - The federal government has plenty of time left to address the problems. The site doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to deliver accurate information reliably to consumers and insurers in time for coverage to begin on Jan. 1. If it can’t do even that within a few weeks, however, the administration may have no choice but to take it offline and stick to enrolling people by hand or by phone. The same goes for the state exchanges.

It’s hard to gauge how consumers have been affected by the problems at HealthCare.gov because no enrollment data have been released yet. That in itself is troubling. Government officials merely point to their one point of pride — that 19 million tried to log on. They tend to forget the part that the vast majority couldn’t do it.

Regardless of the political consequences, the administration owes it to the public to be forthcoming about the site’s performance, its problems and the progress toward solving them.